An official Syracuse University student chapter will start promoting the libertarian Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) campaign for president this month.

‘Students for Rand’, the “official youth effort of the Rand Paul Presidential Campaign,” aims to mobilize young people to promote Paul’s policies and ultimately elect him as the next president of the United States, according to Paul’s official campaign website.

Paul’s campaign team reached out to Nicholas Paro, a senior political science major at SU, in August after he was involved with other libertarian groups while interning in Washington, D.C., Paro said. The team asked Paro to head a new ‘Students for Rand’ chapter at SU, and Paro accepted, he said.

Members of ‘Students for Rand’ work as presidential campaign interns, and each member is signed off by Paul’s national campaign, Paro said.

Paro said he believes many college students would support Rand’s policies if they were informed about them.

“The ideology that Rand supports is something that a lot of college students support too and don’t realize it, and I’m trying to throw those things out there,” Paro said.

Paro said he believes many students would stand behind Paul’s general libertarian ideology, especially his belief in state rights over marijuana legalization and plan to take the government out of marriage altogether.

“He wants to allow us to be freer and more equal on a social level; that’s the kind of candidate we need,” Paro said.

Wyatt Suling, president of the College Republicans at SU, said he believes Students for Rand will draw the students Paro hopes for because the Republican Party currently serves as more of an umbrella group where there are many different ideologies.

Paul is currently in a four-way tie for fifth place in the Republican race with 4 percent support, according to an Oct. 27 New York Times/CBS News poll. The candidate trails behind first-place Ben Carson, second-place Donald Trump, third-place Marco Rubio and fourth-place Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina, according to the poll. In fifth place with Paul are Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee and John Kasich, according to the poll.

Despite Paul’s lag in the race, Paro said he thinks the candidate’s positions on civil liberties will allow him to prevail, and if not, Paro still sees optimistic outcomes for the candidate.

“I’m part of a large movement that goes beyond the presidential race of Rand Paul,” Paro said. “So spreading those ideas and getting people on board to the liberty movement will still be my priority, no matter the outcome.”

Shana Gadarian, a political science professor at SU, said she thinks getting college students involved with the campaign is a smart move for Rand, a candidate who she said isn’t getting as much free coverage as other candidates.

“Students are one place where campaigns can engage with young voters. However, young voters are very hard to mobilize and get out to the voting booth,” Gadarian said. “By using politically-engaged students on college campuses, candidates have one way to reach out.”

In regard to future plans for ‘Students for Rand,’ Paro said one of his goals as president of the SU chapter is to make the chapter bigger than the one at the State University of New York Cortland, which he said is one of the largest chapters of ‘Students for Rand.’

‘Students for Rand’ will hold its first general interest meeting in Eggers Hall Room 100 on Friday at 4 p.m.

Published on October 28, 2015 at 10:06 pm

Contact Grace: gkjankow@syr.edu